Coffman, Davidson dancers organize charity show

A Dublin Coffman senior and a Hilliard Davidson junior have learned to give with grace.

JENNIFER NOBLIT, ThisWeek Community News

A Dublin Coffman senior and a Hilliard Davidson junior have learned to give with grace.

Dublin Coffman's Samantha Coyle, with the help of Hilliard Davidson's Corrine Bailey, organized a charity show, "Giving with Grace," that took the stage of the Abbey Theater on Jan. 22.

"Corrine and I have been making dance routines together for a long time and wanted to perform for people," said Coyle, who takes lessons at the Dublin-based Columbus DanceArts Academy.

Proceeds from the show will go to the Komen Foundation, and Bailey said inspiration for the beneficiary came from personal experience. A close friend of her mother overcame breast cancer once, but later was diagnosed with other cancers, including bone and brain.

"My mom was always there for her. She passed away," Bailey said. "A few weeks after that, Sam and I were in ballet class and we'd been talking about doing something to showcase our choreography."

Bailey and Coyle first took the charity show idea to the dance studio's artistic directors, then to the owners of the studio.

"We're in charge of getting all the music together, choreography and rehearsal schedules," Coyle said. "My parents helped get the Abbey Theater arranged and the stage crew. We did the dancer stuff."

The "dancer stuff" includes choreographing a few dances for the performance and recruiting other choreographers and dancers – all students from the Columbus DanceArts Academy.

"Our youngest choreographers are 12 and the dance they made up is incredible," Coyle said. "I love seeing such young people giving back. I'm really proud of them."

Dance styles in the show range from ballet and modern to lyrical and jazz - all styles in which Bailey and Coyle have taken lessons. Bailey said she started taking dance lessons when she was 2, and Coyle has spent about 14 years dancing.

According to Bailey, work on the show has been going for about a year.

"There are 11 dances in the show," she said. "We had all our choreographers write about the piece they wanted to do. They wrote out their idea, the music and concept."

Coyle said she had some downtime over the summer to get a lot of work done.

"I had reconstructive hip surgery in July, so I had a lot of time on my hands to get all this stuff done," she said. "The idea started last winter, but we started all the details at the end of the summer."

Neither Coyle nor Bailey have organized such a large event before, but late last week, the Jan. 22 performance was nearly sold out.

"I'm definitely nervous, but I'm excited to figure out how much we collected and present it to the Komen Foundation," Bailey said before the performance.

Although the girls had a goal in mind for how much money they hoped to raise, Coyle said they expect to exceed that figure.

"Our original goal was $2,000, but I'm pretty sure we've gone way above that so far," she said.

There were some doubts to whether or not the show would ever take place, but Bailey said she was happy with the results.

"If you have an idea and you stick to it - especially if it's helping others - never give up," she said. "You never know what to expect and you can help more than you know."

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
ThisWeek Community News ~ 5300 Crosswind Drive, Columbus, OH 43228 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service